Europe – Day 5

We first had breakfast at the hotel.  They  surprised us with a Happy Birthday display on a tabel all waiting for us when we arrived.  Nice touch and it was a wonderful hotel.

From our hotel in Zermatt, they took us by their little electric vehicle to the train station where we boarded the 8:15am train to Milian.

When we got to Milian we had 7 minutes to change trains to go to Genoa.

It was not easy but we make it.

After 2 hours we arrived in Genoa and took a taxi to our apartment, yes, our apartment.

We were met outside the building by the Manager who took us inside and rather than take the lift, we walked up to the next floor to the apartment.

Ed had surprised Barb with an apartment and it was beyond our expectations!

It has a livening room, a kitchen, a huge bathroom and then a separate large bedroom.

I will post the video of the room but not sure it will show how amazing the apartment is.

We then walked to the Old City where we were met with our guide for the next 2 hours.  He was driving a bicycle with a seat on the back for us.  Kind of like a bicycle rickshaw!

The Old City is amazing with buildings dating back many centuries.   From the days of wars with other countries, they built the city with very narrow, winding streets.  There were like our alleys covering a huge area.  The reason that they built the city that way was to divide and conquer countries that were trying to invade them.  The size of the Old City is .4 of a mile, with an amazing number of little streets, like our alley, filled with small restaurants, food stores and just normal places for the people who live there.

Most notably, the city's elaborate collection of over 150 palaces is a sight to see. Forty-two of these palaces became UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2006, and although most are privately owned, several of the glorious edifices are open to the public year-round.

Our driver gave us the name of a restaurant that we went to after it opened at 7:30pm.

It was the best meal we have had so far.   We started out with Anchovies and finished with a wonderful pasta dish.

It was a very small place with, of course, seating outside.    We had a wonderful meal and then wandered the street for a couple of hours.

When we got back to the room, they had left a small birthday cake which was delicious.

Tomorrow will be fun exploring Genoa.

Night from Genoa

                                                        Breakfast at the hotel in Zermatt

                                                Ed's Happy Birthday table at breakfast

                                                    Taking us to the train station

                                                    Our host at the hotel

                                                    The center point of the Old Town

                                                Our guide for a two hour tour

                                                  Inside a beautiful church

                                            This was someones home!!!

                                        It's 6:000pm - Beans and Grapes from the market

                                                             Dinner

                                            Ed's birthday cake left in the apartment